Stereoscopic (“three-dimensional” or “3D”) motion pictures were initially created by capturing content with two cameras. However, this technique typically requires costly equipment, such as a dual-camera rig. Further, error correction needed for the resulting 3D content may result in a cumbersome process.
An alternative technique for creating stereoscopic motion pictures involves generating a pair of stereoscopic images from a monoscopic (“two-dimensional” or “2D”) image. The pair of stereoscopic images may present differing perspectives of the monoscopic image such that an illusion of depth is created for a viewer looking at one of the pair of images with the left eye and the other image of the pair with the right eye. Typically, a 3D viewing device, such as glasses with polarizing, anaglyphic or alternating shutter features, are used to view the stereoscopic pair of images.
Many techniques for 2D-to-3D image conversion require extensive manual editing processes. For example, artists perform inpainting by hand to fill missing image content in regions of the 3D image where disocclusions exist due to the pixel displacement introduced in the 2D-to-3D conversion process. Moreover, existing conversion techniques may involve different artists using different software packages and production tools, with the resulting 3D image viewable only after the conversion process is complete.
In view of the above, improved methods and apparatus for 2D-to-3D image conversion are desired.